Ben Schoon, Author at 9to5Google

Author

Ben Schoon is a Senior Editor at 9to5Google, working for the publication as one of its primary news writers since 2016.

In 2013, Ben helped start an independent tech publication where he learned the skills used at 9to5Google including writing, product photography, and videography. He is located in the city of Winston-Salem in North Carolina where he lives with his wife Melissa.

He primarily covers Android products, including Google Pixel devices, Samsung Galaxy smartphones, as well as devices from OnePlus, Oppo, Motorola, and more. Beyond just covering news about these products, Ben also spends time using these products himself, speaking from experience with the articles he writes. Some of Ben’s most recent hands-on reviews include; Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Watch 2, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Motorola Razr+, HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, and more.

Ben is also a leading source for information about Google’s Android TV, diving deeply into important parts of the platform including its powerful Operator Tier, explaining future changes to the platform, and reviewing its products such as Chromecast with Google TV, Nvidia Shield TV, and more.

In 2019, Ben leaked one of the first in-person photos of the Pixel 4 before later revealing the Recorder and Pixel Themes apps months ahead of launch. In 2020, Ben also reported on multiple upcoming Pixel devices including Pixel 5a and the first report of Google working on a foldable Pixel smartphone. That same month, he was also the first to correctly report the $49 price point of what became the Chromecast with Google TV.

Ben Schoon is active on Twitter, @nexusben, but can also be found on Instagram and LinkedIn. For questions or tips, you can email him directly, and his portfolio is also available online.

Email: schoon@9to5mac.com | Encrypted Email: benschoon@protonmail.com

Connect with Ben Schoon

Back in Android 12, Google added some flexibility to Android’s location permission by allowing users to only give apps access to their “approximate” location. It’s a great idea, but one that’s ruined by basically no apps actually supporting it.

Google’s “A-Series” Pixel releases have long been praised for their affordable price points, but it seems Google is looking to yet again move that price up with the launch of Pixel 8a this year.

The OnePlus 13 may finally get a new design, a reliable source claims.

A major outage from Meta has taken down Facebook, Instagram, and other products, but it seems that some users are also seeing issues with some Google services.

Qualcomm last year announced its Apple M-series competitor, the Snapdragon X Elite, and now it seems we finally know when a laptop is actually coming as a new report pinpoints a launch date for the Microsoft Surface Laptop 6.

Google Pixel is coming off of its best-selling year to date, but according to one report, Google shipped fewer Tensor chips in Q4 2023.

In its latest update, password manager 1Password is adding support for passkeys on Android.

Waze is launching several more new helpful features for your drive with new alerts for speed limit changes, speed bumps, roundabouts, and more.

After countless teasers and leaks, the Nothing Phone (2a) is officially launching today with pre-orders opening at the lower-than-expected price of £319.

Google Maps is invaluable in finding your way to a location, but a sore point of the app has long been finding where to actually enter the building. Now, though, Google Maps seems to be showing entrances for buildings to some users.

At MWC 2024 last week, I had the chance to try out some of the concept devices that are meant to show the future of smartphones. But, while the future of foldables seems brighter than ever, I’m not sure ideas like rollables or bendables are going to have any place in the actual market.

Biometrics have made it way more conveinent to unlock our smartphones, but there’s a debate on if face, or fingerprint unlock is the better solution. Many Android brands have taken the approach of “why not both,” adding both face and fingerprint unlock to their devices, but Google’s Pixel is the only one that’s done it correctly.

Android Auto is introducing a handful of tweaks in its latest updates, including showing a status indicator on apps that only work when your car is parked.

MWC 2024 was my first time visiting the show, and the absolute highlight of my time at Fira de Barcelona was collecting Google’s Android pins.

Satellite connectivity for smartphones has proven valuable on Apple’s iPhone, but it’s a feature that’s struggling to get out the door on Android devices. This week, though, a new “Satellite SOS” feature has started appearing on Google Pixel phones, and we’ve got a sneak preview of what it will be able to do.

With the launch of Android Auto 11.4, Google is making its AI message summaries available to all users. Here’s how the feature works.

Following the whole Beeper Mini debacle, the regular Beeper app is getting a major redesign that brings long-awaited features.

The Google app on Android is starting to roll out a new design for context-aware buttons that extends out of the search bar.

Google’s Pixel series has been slowly growing over the past few years, with 2023 being its best year to date with 10 million devices sold. According to more new data, Google Pixel made up around 3% of smartphones sold in North America during the last few months of 2023.

Picture-in-picture support is super handy for keeping a video in view while you’re getting stuff done on your phone or tablet but, on YouTube, it requires a Premium subscription for some users. Lately, though, YouTube seems to have been expanding picture-in-picture support to more free users.

While showing off the Galaxy Ring earlier this week, Samsung confirmed some details about the upcoming health tracker, including what devices it will support, battery sizes, and more.

After the Galaxy Z Fold 6 leaked yesterday, more renders are now showing off the Galaxy Z Flip 6 which looks the same, but with a thicker form factor.

Following the Galaxy Ring’s first appearance this week and news about the Galaxy Z Fold 6, a new report claims that Samsung will yet again be moving up its launch this year, with Unpacked set for “early July.”

The Pixel 8 series brings some big improvements to Google’s flagship series, and it’s also now bringing in awards, as the duo has now won the 2023 Phone of the Year award at MWC.

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